On July 17th of this summer, I will celebrate my 35th anniversary in the insurance business. On many levels, the time has flown by. However, on just as many levels, it seems like an eternity. I can still remember that my initial sales tools consisted of a Texas Instruments calculator (that I had no clue how to operate), an abridged rate book, and several pre-printed ledger statements that showed only a fixed amount of life insurance at various ages. Computer technology was still a ways off, and being able to do anything on a computer was still several years away.

My pride and joy my first week in this business was a corduroy suit, and, yes, a couple of times I was seen wearing “platform” shoes. Our hair was long, our style was hideous, and the purchasing of my first real suit from Britches of Georgetown was a momentous occasion. When I put it on, I felt so grown up and distinguished at the robust age of 21.

Training back then was non-existent. If you were lucky to pass the state exam, you were ready to go. Indeed, only the tough-minded and the strong survived those early years. Of those folks contracted from 1976-1980 at the agency where I worked, only 3 people have survived. The others are long gone. Some have gone on to very successful careers in other walks of life, some have never been heard from again. Thinking back to those days and all the time that has elapsed, I am struck by “how” and “why” some have survived and made our business a career.

I believe there are 4 important characteristics that give a person a chance to succeed in the insurance business, and it is the purpose of this first article to highlight what I believe them to be. I guess 35 years of experience allows me to expound on this topic.

First, I believe you have to like people, and I consider myself fortunate that I do. One of the most wonderful by-products of being in this business for 35 years has been the opportunity to meet really incredible people. Sure, I’ve met some real bozos. But I’ve also met some wonderful people who’ve taught me many things about class, dignity, integrity, and love.

No one buys a life insurance policy without love being the cornerstone for that purchase, and I’ve met so many people whose class, dignity, and integrity have been examples to follow. In particular, I’ve been fortunate to have been the broker for the law firm of Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, PC. To a person, that firm embodies class and integrity. The founding partners of that firm represent everything that is good about the world and the legal profession, and they make me want to be good and better at what I do every day. Thinking back on my 30 year relationship with the people of that firm and getting to know almost every partner and many employees at that firm is one of the genuine highlights of these past 35 years.

Second, I believe you have to be goal-oriented to make it in this business. Having grown up playing sports my entire life, being goal oriented was just something I was. Setting goals and trying to accomplish them was and always has been second nature. I found the insurance business challenging in that sense. While I could not control what folks did or didn’t do, I could control my effort and the number of people I tried to see each day. Breaking bigger goals down into smaller goals was something I learned early on. Thinking about selling 250 life insurance policies in a year was daunting, but thinking about selling one a day was not. And thinking about selling 5,000 in a career was impossible to get my head around, but thinking about selling 150 a year for 35 years seemed doable. At more than 6,000 and counting, it worked out.

Third, I believe you have to want to help people. I don’t believe your primary purpose in any business cannot be about making money. I believe that if that’s all it is, you are doomed to ultimate failure or significant problems. Helping people—and realizing the importance of what we do—has enabled me to overcome the difficulties of this business. Early on, I had to learn to develop a thick skin and ignore the occasional rudeness, the infrequent disdain displayed by some folks, and the downright nastiness some folks just have to have. What helped was the knowledge that if and when someone granted me an opportunity to meet them that we had a chance to become life-long friends. And that happened often enough to trump any and all negativity that might be out there in the world. What also helped me was knowing that I was affecting people’s lives positively if and when they took my well-intended advice. Paying death claims and disability claims was all the vindication I needed to know that my work was important.

Finally, I believe you have to have a sense of mission. At The Thomas Group, Inc., I’m fortunate today to work with 4 folks in my office every day whose mission is to serve our clients to the very best of their ability every day. I’m blessed to get to work with Patricia Maguire, Jana Cechova, Gary McPherson, and Paula Roca day in and day out. Our mission is to be the best service and advice provider to our clients that exists in the Washington, DC market place. We want no equal when it comes to providing timely answers, quality advice, and caring attentiveness to our client’s needs each and every day.

Our mission is built on four pillars. We want to do what we say we’ll do when we say we’ll do it (accountability), we want to say “please” and “thank you” (gratitude), and we want to show up on time (respect for our clients), and want to always do the right thing (integrity). If we follow our mission every day, good things happen for us and our clients on a daily basis.

I am looking forward to another 35 years of working with the best clients anyone could possibly have in the insurance, financial services, and employee benefit business.